All This Time: A Billionaire, Bad Boy Romance (Fated Loves Book 3)

by Zee Irwin

  “Sorry to disturb you, BooBoo. I have a dinner date with Maddie and the girls to get to.”

  The cat looked displaced and displeased when I got up from the chair, but a few minutes later she forgot all about it, munching away at her canned Salmon Delight dinner in the kitchenette with her five brothers and sisters.

  As I headed toward the door, I stopped and turned at the unmistakable sound of Simon’s wheels. “Look who decided to make an appearance.”

  Shirtless, my brother rubbed his eyes. “Don’t start sis.”

  “Super late night?”

  “Yeah, the guys and I hit a strip club.”

  I peered behind him. “Hm, must have been a slow night for you, though. I don’t see a girl behind—”

  I spoke too soon, realizing a woman snuck through the shop and stopped by Simon. “Hello. Thanks for last night.” She leaned down and kissed Simon several times. “It was great. Maybe we’ll do it again sometime. Call me,” she cooed at him.

  I stared at their display in front of me. Somehow, the fact Simon had lost his legs in our family car accident when he was ten didn’t stop his physical development. My brother grew into a verified hunk. Every ripple of his abs was visible, his chest perfectly rounded, and his biceps bulged. From the waist up, he had an admirable physique. From the neck up, with a chiseled jaw and crystal blue eyes, he could pass for a Ken doll. I figured he must have had a lot to offer below the waistline too. Even without the use of his limbs, many of the women repeated, coming back for more.

  “Hi, I’m Nina,” she addressed me as she neared the door. “Lovely shop. I’ll have to stop by sometime under different circumstances.”

  “I’m Lily, and yes, thank you. Come again.” I held the door open for her and observed she was blonder and older than his usual sexual partners. After closing the door behind her, I heard Simon snicker.

  “It’ll be awhile before she does. Let’s just say I fully satisfied her last night.”

  I stared in disbelief. “Seriously, could you stop bringing women through my store?”

  “No, I won’t stop. Think of it like my contribution to the success of The Cat’s Cradle. Your bookstore is for women, so I’m bringing in a clientele. You’ve told me yourself several times how my former conquests have ventured back to the store to buy something. Let’s say we both have repeat customers.”

  “Don’t be so cocky.” I followed him back to his apartment, built for him by Uncle Joe, out of the former storage space in the back of the shop.

  “Hey, it’s not my fault he didn’t set this old building up for accessibility. Your other renters have a fine entrance from the alley, but no wheelchair ramp for me. Until someone invents a wheelchair that goes up and down stairs, my front door is your shop.” He set the kettle on the burner in his tiny kitchen.

  I controlled my irritation, when really I wanted to blow up at him for being so immature. “Could you be more ungrateful? The cost of turning the back room into a fully accessible apartment for you to live independently took all Uncle Joe had left, leaving him barely enough to retire decently in Florida with his girlfriend. And after me getting swindled last year by that idiot contractor, I have no money in reserves. Which means nothing left for the remodel of the apartment upstairs for me. Which means I pay rent to Maddie for a room in her apartment several blocks from here, which adds to my expenses each month.”

  “What do you want from me? To apologize for the millionth time? Sorry I’m such a burden, okay?” He turned his wheels and faced the counter, waiting for the water to boil.

  A heavy sigh escaped me over this very familiar guilt trip. “I don’t really care who you date. I simply worry about you and want you to be safe and happy. Maybe find meaningful work and fall in love with just one woman. Even settle down.”

  “Why? So you won’t have to watch over me anymore? I’m a grown man, Lils. I can take care of myself.”

  “I know you can. And thanks to this accessible apartment and this shop, you’re set for life. But it’s a lot of work for me, although work I enjoy. Even so, I worry. What if I fail and the bookstore closes? What if I can’t be there for you or provide for you?”

  “Again, I’m sure I’d find a way to take care of myself.” He finally turned back to me. “Look, I appreciate everything, sis. And as much as you want my happiness, I want yours.”

  “What would make me happy is if you calmed down a little and not bring so many women home. Also, help more in the store like you said you would.”

  “All right, fine. At least until the sled hockey season starts up. I’ll work the store, but I make no guarantees about my partying slowing down. I love you, sis, you know that? Give me hug.” He wheeled up to me with a goofy grin and spread his arms out wide, like he used to do when we were younger. The memory of how Simon was always a happy-go-lucky kind of kid tugged at my heart. A part of me was glad that the accident and the aftermath hadn’t robbed him of that.

  I leaned down and hugged him tight, because he’d always be the fun-loving brother I couldn’t stay mad at if I tried.

  A brisk walk to Daniel’s brownstone was pleasant, as the afternoon wasn’t ready yet to transition into evening. The warm early spring breeze drifting across Boston Common had the crowds out in force, as if all of Boston decided it was time for some fresh air. No wonder people weren’t shopping when there was a beautiful spring day to enjoy.

  I put on my white cat-eye sunglasses and removed my cardigan sweater, stowing it away in my bag. The sunshine warmed my face while I walked, and let my mind go blank, not wanting to disturb the simplicity of the moment. Sunshine, fresh air, spring . . . all a renewal for the mind.

  That simplicity only lasted a few minutes. It took little for my imagination to get carried away with thoughts. How lovely would it be to walk hand in hand with a man on a day like this? Maybe with Blue92?

  I passed a man who fit his description and made eye contact with him. After I passed him with a smile, the man gave me a quick look up and down and discarded me. Wasn’t it typical of men to make a physical determination before an emotional connection?

  I didn’t dress like most women my age. I preferred the classic lines of a vintage dress and my closet boasted many of them, as if I flew them to me direct from 1955. If I had to impress a man in a way that wasn’t truly myself, how could I start a relationship like that?

  It had bugged my bestie Cassidy to no end, and we often debated.

  “If you’d update your wardrobe a little, throw in some modern pieces. Enough to help a man get past the outside to see the amazing Lily on the inside.”

  “But that’s not me, Cass. I am who I am. If I take forever to find a guy to appreciate that, so be it.”

  The memories of a time when I wasn’t so sure about myself squeezed my heart. Middle school was such an awkward time for me. When my first dance came up, I had wanted to wear a fancy yellow dress. Mom had saved money here and there from her grocery budget and surprised me with the yellow dotted Swiss fabric. To this day, my fingertips running along a Swiss dotted material triggered so many old emotions.

  Mom and I worked for weeks sewing the dress, and it was ready just in time. I never got the chance to show it off, though. The accident happened on the way to the dance. My dress, torn by glass, with juice stains or maybe blood, was the first sight I saw when I opened my eyes after the car came to a stop.

  Simon lost his legs. And we lost our parents. If I wore my vintage fashion like a badge of honor to have survived the past, I deserved it. Either way, it was a part of me I wasn’t ready to relinquish for a man’s attention, no matter how much desire I had for an actual relationship.

  Another brown-haired, brown-eyed man crossed the street coming toward me and didn’t shoot me one glance.

  I inhaled the deep spring air and released it back out, giving myself a pep talk and reviving my optimism. If not Blue92, then someone, someday, sometime . . . I believed Fate had a man she was saving for me, and until then, I required patience until h
e arrived in my life.

  Maddie answered the door in jeans and a t-shirt, casual and comfy as usual, but still supermodel gorgeous even when she wasn’t wearing her corporate lawyer’s uniform of suits and dresses.

  “Lily! I’m so glad to see you.” She hugged me like she missed me for ages, even though we were roommates and I saw her last night at our apartment. But something about her making dinner tonight at Daniel’s brownstone house made this a special occasion that required these different social pretenses.

  “Am I overdressed?”

  “Not at all. Come in. We have a slight change of plans. Cassidy had a work thing with Bronson. Emily and Bella had to work as well, and Ma and Paddy are meeting with their cake decorator, so it’s you and me. Daniel went to the store. And you’ll never believe what I’m doing.”

  Disappointed that our girl’s night was foiled, I followed her to the kitchen, where an array of ingredients laid out on the counter spelled out chocolate chip cookies to me. “Don’t tell me you’re baking.”

  I had a right to worry. Maddie’s last attempt to make something as simple as toast in our apartment caused the fire alarms to blare.

  “Yes. I decided while Daniel was out at the grocery store, I’d surprise him with a batch of cookies. I got out everything I’ll need.”

  I reached for the mixing bowl and butter, but she slapped my hands away.

  “No. I want to do it on my own. I’m ready for this. Besides, I’ve seen you bake cookies at the apartment a hundred times, and I’m a Harvard graduate. How hard can it be?”

  “Okay, I’ll sit here and supervise.”

  “Nope, not even that. Just keep me company. So, what’s the latest in your life?” She referred to the cookbook on the counter for a moment, and I took up a perch on the barstool at the island.

  “Not much. The store is doing okay and cats are healthy for the moment, although I worry about George and his age. The other day, I caught him missing the litter box, one foot in, one foot out. Hopefully, he’s not getting cat dementia.”

  “Uh huh.” Maddie replied absentmindedly while putting softened butter into the mixing bowl. She cracked two eggs into the bowl next, then laughed her way through, trying to get eggshells out of it. “What about that guy online you’ve been talking to?”

  “Blue92? I really like him, but if we don’t meet in person, what’s the point? Every relationship needs progression, right? Things can’t stay stagnant forever.” I cringed, seeing her eyes after I said it. “Oh, I don’t mean like you and Daniel, I meant . . .”

  She looked right at me like I’d given her the answer to life’s mystery, and it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “It’s true though. I worry we aren’t making progress.”

  When she reached for a paper towel to dab at her eyes, I felt so bad for her. She and Daniel had been dating for a while, but things moved at a snail’s pace with him. Compared to our other roommate, Cassidy, who fell in love with Bronson all over again, and a month later, they moved in together.

  I hopped off the barstool right away and came to Maddie’s side. “Oh honey, I didn’t mean to make you cry. Is everything okay?”

  “Daniel’s just touchy about things lately. With his ma and Paddy making wedding plans, Ma dragging us into every detail, and Daniel paying for everything like the wonderful son he has always been to her . . . It’s been a lot for my formerly commitment phobic boyfriend to deal with. Most things are perfect with Daniel, but tonight over dinner please don’t bring up anything resembling marriage or future or commitment because he’ll clam up. Other than that, I don’t really have anything to complain about. He’s an amazing boyfriend.”

  I gave her a hug, anyway. “Who will be an amazing husband someday?”

  “Someday. He loves me and that’s enough commitment for the moment. I’ll keep working on him. Besides, we have nothing but time, even if we linger at this stage. Oh, I’ll be alright. Go sit down. I don’t want to get tears in the recipe.”

  I sat as she continued.

  “And Ma’s wedding will be amazing. By the way, I added you to the guest list with a plus one, so hopefully you’ll have a date to bring?”

  “No promises, but I’ll attend and be there for you. If nothing else, I could bring Simon.”

  Maddie stopped working and popped her head at me with a look that didn’t need any translation.

  “I know, I know. Simon gets under your skin with his player ways, but he can be fun to party with occasionally, and besides, at least I’d have someone to dance with.”

  “I was thinking more like you bringing Blue92?”

  I put my chin in my hands, defeated by Blue. “I couldn’t get him to meet me for Valentine’s, so it’s doubtful about the wedding. Maybe the luster of online dating has worn off. I’m pulling away, not making myself available as much. If he doesn’t want to meet, what’s the point of continuing? Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with someone, but then be heartbroken, just from conversations online?”

  She added the vanilla and tentatively pushed the button for the mixer to start, giving me a smile to reassure me, or herself, that she was mastering this baking thing. “From what you’ve told me before, it sounds like there’s something there anyway,” she raised her voice over the noise.

  “I’d say so, although I don’t know how he feels. One time, he admitted he felt things for me. That’s as much as I could get out of him. He had so much to say when we were discussing books, but that didn’t translate into talking about his feelings. For all I know, he could be a crazy person. I don’t know his real name, I don’t know his occupation. What do I really know about him?”

  My exasperated sigh was a sign. “I think I’m tired of it, honestly. I want a real man in my arms to kiss and to hang out with.”

  “What about that guy, what’s his name at the pizza shop?”

  “Frank? Ugh. Been there, done that.”

  “Daniel has some single friends. I could fix you up with a handsome lawyer or a muscled police officer?”

  I made sure she saw the exaggerated rolling of my eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks. You know my type, the artsy creatives.”

  “You have a thing against muscles?” Maddie turned off the mixer and focused on adding dry ingredients.

  “I enjoy looking at them, sure, but guys like that usually have a thing against me. Spending hours in the gym isn’t what I do, and I’m too busy with the bookstore for any real hobbies other than reading. And I have my style, different from the usual gym babes. If a guy wants to love me, this is what they get. I will not change.”

  Maddie’s eyes glanced down at my dress, a 1950s style light blue cotton dress with a French poodle embroidered down the front, belted at the waist and a skirt with a little crinoline at the bottom to make it poof. Paired with my red Mary Jane shoes and a yellow short cardigan, which matched the yellow flower barrette in my hair, I made no apologies for my sense of style.

  I liked what I liked, and it wasn’t the cookie cutter look of most women my age. “Maybe that makes me undateable. If that’s the case, then I’ll be a spinster with twelve cats reading romance novels for life. Just me and my cats. Oh, Maddie no—”

  She had added all three cups of flour into the bowl and turned the mixer on high level, flinging flour across the counter and herself. “Oh!”

  I reached over the counter, quickly flipping the switch off. “Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.” We laughed together. At least she could laugh at herself.

  “Let me help clean up.”

  “Wait. Daniel will be back at any moment. I want to get the cookies baked, so when he walks in, the smell gets to him right away. I’ll clean up after.”

  A few minutes later, the first batch was heating in the oven. Maddie relaxed and poured us both a glass of wine. “Well, Lily, I don’t have all the answers about relationships, but I know one thing. You’ve become one of my best friends. I think any man who takes the time to get to know you, will find what I did. You have a beautiful soul.�
�� She sipped from her glass, then reached for a towel to clean up.

  “Thanks, but I know you’re saying that because as a friend you’re obliged to.” Maddie launched her towel at me and I was about to throw it back when the doorbell sounded. “Why don’t I get that, since you have your hands full with cleaning up this mess.”

  I walked down the hall to the front door, thinking over Maddie’s words. They were all lovely, but with one minor problem. Where would I find a man who would take the time to get to know my beautiful soul?

  Astute Observation

  Jace

  With my furrowed brow pointed right at the short woman in front of me who answered the door, I peeked beyond her into the house and back. “Oh. Hi. You’re not Maddie.”

  One thing years of being on the police force taught me was to take in details in a quick sweep. She was at least five foot and a couple inches with a petite frame compared to one of the two women who usually answered Daniel’s door, either his mother when she was back in town from Florida, or his girlfriend who had the height and build of a supermodel. Daniel had no sisters I knew of, but maybe a cousin from Ireland was visiting?

  A fringe of brown bangs and pale skin with bright blue eyes made me think she could pass for Irish. This woman with her red framed glasses, which she pushed up her nose, prepared whatever she was about to say. I couldn’t have missed the way she did it, like a smart girl adjusting herself for a battle of wits.

  She chuckled. “Astute observation. And you are?” After crossing her arms, her eyes lingered down the trail of my detective clothing. I should have stopped home to change, but I was eager to share some news with my friends. Most detectives stuck with the basics, like Dockers or suit pants, comfortable shoes, and button downs with ties, adding a coat or suit jacket depending upon the weather. Today I opted for a navy blue cardigan sweater and caught crap for it from the guys at work, who called me “Mr. Rogers from the neighborhood.” It didn’t bother me. Working mostly with men, I was used to taking their ribbing as much as dealing it out.